Chapter 3 Research Methodology 3.1 Introduction - DSpace@UM

3.5 SDLC for developing the On-line decision SupportSystem for Retail Chain Store (ODSS-RCS)Due the circumstance surrounding this research, in particular time constraint, theSDLC that was chosen for system development is Evolutionary Prototyping.The goals of prototyping vary from system to system, and different prototypingstrategies may be adopted, depending on the problem domain.3.5.1 What is Evolutionary Prototyping (EP)?Evolutionary prototyping uses multiple iterations of requirements gathering,analysis, design, development, and testing of prototype. After completion of eachiteration, the result is analyzed by the researcher. Their response creates the nextlevel of requirements and defines the next iteration. And this goes on until theoperational system is ready (http://www.doc.mmu.ac.uk).Advantages• Suits rapidly changing or poorly understood requirements, so it suits aproject in which the development areas are not well known to thedevelopers• Provides the end-user with clear signs of progress• Gives the end-user a sense of control over the project’s progress56